Leicester Lions 45 Newport Wasps 45.

A LAST-HEAT defeat denied Newport Mike Manning Audio Wasps a second British Premier League victory over the Lions in as many days last night.

The Wasps had emerged 52-40 winners at Queensway Meadows Stadium on Friday night and this result now means they have won eight and drawn one of their last 12 league and cup fixtures.

Australian duo Jason Doyle and Justin Sedgmen were first up for the Wasps against Finish flyer Kauko Nieminen and Dane Jan Graversen.

But Doyle came to grief on bend three of lap three although Sedgmen came second, the home team got off to a winning 4-2 start.

In the reserves race, the Wasps held a 5-1 lead through Todd Kurtz and Mark Jones, until the latter was overtaken - althought the visiting duo held on for a 4-2 success of their own to level matters at 6-6.

Charlie Gjedde won race three, but colleague Robin Aspegren failed to score as it ended in parity at 3-3 and soon it wa 12-12 when Lanham and Kurtz came second and third respectively in heat four.

In five, Doyle and Sedgmen again combined, this time against Russian Ilya Bondarenko and dashing Dane Henning Bager .

But problems at bend three produced a fair amount of meyhem with Sedgmen unhurt afer crasing and Bondarenko excluded for the re-run.

That helped Doyle and Sedgmen post a 5-1 maxium and next up were Lanham and Jones v Nieminen and Graversen, who took it 5-1.

Gjedde and Aspegren recorded a 4-2 win in the next, but Graversen and Wright performed well to gain a 5-1 from heat eight over Sedgmen and Kurtz.

That made the score 25-23 to Leicester and when successive 3-3 draws was backed up by a 4-2, heat 11 victory for Doyle and Sedgmen, it saw matters again level at 33-33 with four races remaining.

In heat 12, Swede Aspegren was occompanied by Australian Jones against Bondarenko and another Australian John Oliver.

Aspegren got the gate, but Jones was left behind for another 3-3 and it was a similar score in race 12 with Doyle and Lanham finishing second and third respectively.

It was new evenly balanced at 39-39 and onto 14 and because Bager had been withdrawn with delayed concussion, it saw Gjedde and Kurtz favourites to defeat home reserves John Oliver and Wright.

And so it proved as the Wasps pair roared to a 4-2 success to 43-41 going into the 15th and final heat.

Gjedde was on full, 15-point maxium when he was nominated along with Doyle for the finale with the home side, who needed a 5-1 to win or a 4-2 to draw, put out Karlsson and Nieminen.

And in a superb encounter Karlsson edged out Gjedde with Nieminen keeping his cool under pressure from Doyle as Leicester grabbed a last-gasp match point thanks to a 4-2 win.

Leicester Lions 45: 1 - Kauko Nieminen (capt) 8+1(5); 2 - Jan Graversen 8+1(4); 3 - Iliya Bondarenko 5+2(4); 4 - Henning Bager 3(2); 5 - Magnus Karlsson 13(5); 6 - John Oliver 4(5); 7 - Charles Wright 4+1(5).

Newport Mike Manning Wasps 45: 1 - Jason Doyle 8(5); 2 - Justin Sedgmen 6+1(4); 3 - Robin Aspegren 4(4); 4 - Charlie Gjedde 14(5); 5 - Leigh Lanham (capt) 6+1(4); 6 - Mark Jones 2+1(4); 7 - Todd Kurtz 5+1(4